Time was when advertisers and product managers were supposed to focus on the young consumers who had not locked on to one brand. After all, those customers drove the market. But not anymore. Gone are the days when age proved to be the key demographic, when people followed a linear path from school to marriage to children to retirement. As more businesses are discovering, customers are no longer defined by their birth certificate but by their lifestyle or “lifecycle.” Companies that eschew the stereotypes of age–based marketing will gain a distinct competitive advantage, experts say.

Here’s why: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, by 2010, the number of adults age 45 and older will top 121 million, while the 18–44 age group will reach only 113 million. “When middle–aged people become the majority, that changes the values of all ages,” says David B. Wolfe, a marketing trends expert and coauthor of Ageless Marketing: Strategies for Reaching the Hearts & Minds of the New Customer Majority. “Too many marketers are projecting the values of youth even though youth no longer define the rules of marketplace engagement.”

Act now to download your free copy of 10 Secrets for Successful Customer Relationship Marketing without cost or obligation.

Since lifecycle customers represent a moving target, companies must be nimble in their pursuit of them. “When lifecycles are no longer defined exclusively by age, companies will only be as good as their current ability to keep pace with a constantly morphing consumer,” says Maddy Dychtwald, author of Cycles: How We Will Live, Work, and Buy. What customers wanted or needed a few years ago may no longer be relevant. In a cyclical society, one market study per product isn’t enough. Dychtwald cites the fat–free snacks that product development teams came up with in response to overwhelming consumer demand. Those products now sit on store shelves because consumers are looking for low–carb foods.

To reach lifecycle customers, Dychtwald says companies must:

• Work harder and smarter
• Be flexible, adaptable, and creative
• Show a willingness to discard comfortable, but outdated, ideas

Long Bay Beach Resort & Villas in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, for example, offers a Family Escape Package complete with a two–room villa — one room for a newly married couple and the other for their kids. “People think it’s cute when an 80–year–old man gets married,” Dychtwald says. “It’s not cute. These people are falling in love. We have all these ideas in our mind about what is appropriate for a certain age. But those ages no longer represent what we have in our mind. Once we grasp that, the rest falls into place.”

Permalink: http://www.stepbystepmarketing.com/?p=539